A 20-year-old man and a six-year-old boy were last night in hospital following a shooting attack on a busy stretch of roadway in Co Longford.
The incident is believed to be an escalation of a feud between rival Traveller families in the midlands and left two members of the McGinley family hurt.
The McGinleys live at Goshen, a townland halfway between Edgeworthstown and Longford on one of the country's main east-west routes.
It is believed the man and boy were both injured when pellets were fired at the house at about 7pm, and gardaí last night had the house sealed off in a bid to locate forensic evidence.
It was not clear how many shots had been fired, or whether they had been fired from a passing car. The identity of the injured parties was not revealed last night.
Gardaí sealed off the scene for technical examination and said investigations were ongoing. No arrests had yet been made, a spokesman added. Local people confirmed that the house that came under attack last night was also the subject of a previous attack when a number of windows were broken.